The Student Assembly passed three resolutions on Thursday, calling for the University to divest from fossil fuel companies, condemning Cornell’s settlement with the Trump administration and recommending an increase in the Student Activity Fee — a fee charged to all students to financially support student organizations and programming.
Resolution 19, “University-Wide Disassociation,” was authored by Cornell on Fire, with TIAA-Divest! and Sunrise Cornell — formerly Fossil Free Cornell — which are all climate advocacy organizations. Resolution 19 calls for Cornell to reaffirm its “responsibility and commitment to be carbon neutral by 2035,” outlined in its Climate Action Plan, “resist any efforts by fossil fuel industries to influence higher education,” and to divest from coal, oil and gas profits that flow into the University.
Resolution 19 calls fossil fuel companies “morally reprehensible” for “knowingly causing global ecological catastrophe while deliberately casting public doubt on climate science.”
The resolution notes that its introduction comes on the heels of major fossil fuel divestment resolutions passed by all of Cornell’s shared governance bodies, in 2020. The resolution also points to how in 2020, the Cornell Trustees voted to institute a “moratorium” on investments focused on fossil fuels.
At the time the University did not call the move “divestment,” but it applied to new private equity and bond vehicles focused on fossil fuels, which then made up about 4.2 percent of Cornell’s long-term investments. The moratorium did not apply to indexed and other public equity mandates, such as the S&P 500.
Resolution 19 argues that Cornell must “complete the process of entirely disassociating the University from the influences and ties — especially financial — of the fossil fuel industry...”
“Cornell’s association with the fossil fuel industry is inconsistent with its role as a ‘global leader in sustainability,’” the resolution reads.
The resolution was passed unanimously by all representatives in attendance.
Resolution 20, “Protecting Cornell's Values from the Trump Administration,” was authored by Assembly Vice President for Finance Hayden Watkins ’28 and LGBTQIA+ Representative Alexander Walters ’28, condemning the University’s settlement with the Trump administration.
On Nov. 7, Cornell reached a settlement with the Trump administration to restore all previously paused federal funding. In exchange, the University agreed to pay $30 million to the federal government and invest another $30 million into U.S. agriculture research over the next three years. The settlement also negotiated the closure of several ongoing Civil Rights Title VI investigations into the University by the federal government.
Resolution 20 claims that a “condition of this settlement entails the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and anti-discrimination resources from its Equal Education and Employment Opportunity Statement.”
The settlement does not condition the removal of DEI initiatives by Cornell. However, within the settlement, Cornell agreed to include the Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” which was released on July 29, to be used as a training resource for all staff and faculty.
“The federal government will not stand by while recipients of federal funds engage in discrimination,” the guidance reads, highlighting that there is a “significant legal risk of initiatives” such as diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and allowing transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams.
In a Dec. 2 University Assembly meeting, Kotlikoff explained that the DOJ memo serves as guidance but not a rule, and that “[the memo is] not the institutional position of the University.” Kotlioff said that the University has “no commitment” to implementing the guidance.
Resolution 20 claims that undergraduate feedback was not considered when the administration finalized its agreement with the Trump administration.
“Undergraduate student input was not considered in the agreement to this settlement, the ramifications of which will impact us directly, constituting a sell-out, and prior to the sell-out and after the settlement, community feedback was minimized, as President Kolitkoff held a Town Hall hours after the announcement of the settlement,” Resolution 20 reads.
In a Nov. 7 statement sent by Kotlikoff announcing the settlement, he explained that despite the $60 million agreement, “Cornell has not been found in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in any of the investigations or compliance reviews of the university’s programs…”
Resolution 20 also claims that amid the settlement, other peer institutions have stood up to the Trump administration “on the grounds that funding freezes are illegal and politically motivated,” highlighting that "'acute fiscal pressures’ do not override Cornell’s values.”
In referencing “acute fiscal pressures,” Resolution 20 was most likely referencing the University’s June. 18 message on the “profound financial challenges facing the university” in the wake of the federal funding freeze.
“I think a lot of the conditions of the settlement compromise Cornell’s values of any person, any study [and] the removal of [diversity, equity and inclusion] protection instruction, goes against that,” Watkins said. “I think Trump’s attacks on higher education in general, especially for Cornell, is just a display of [being powerless] from our administration to the White House…”
Ultimately, Watkins explained that the resolution aims to help students maintain their academic freedom under pressure from the federal government.
“All of us are here because we're very, very passionate about protecting Cornell undergraduate students,” Watkins said. “Although we may disagree, sometimes I do see every single meeting, all of you are here because you were very passionate about protecting undergraduate Cornell students.”
Assembly Archivist Niles Hite ’26 expressed his disapproval of the settlement in a statement sent to The Sun, explaining that he thinks it sets a dangerous precedent going forward for the University.
“As someone who cares a lot about the constitution, I’m generally disappointed that we’ve chosen to participate in a precedent where organizations/corporations/nonprofits — like the big law firms and other universities — can pay the government to make an investigation go away,” Hite said. “I believe it’s a complete disruption to the rule of law.”
In a Nov. 7 town hall meeting hours after the settlement was announced, Kotlikoff, responding to a question about why Cornell negotiated with the government, explained that it has been a “very, very difficult time” for faculty, staff and students affected by the funding freeze.
“All of that compelled us to try and understand what the issues were with the government and also to see if we could resolve those amicably,” Kotlikoff said.
Resolution 20 was passed unanimously by all members of the assembly.
Resolution 21, “Approving the Recommendation for the 2026-28 Student Activity Fee,” authored by Watkins and Assembly Hotel School Representative Christian Tarala ‘27, would approve the Assembly Finance Committee’s recommendation to increase the Student Activity Fee from $424 to $476 per student in order to meet increased expenses.
These funds are used to fund student-led programming distributed to registered on-campus organizations. The largest increases came from Slope Day Programming Board and the Student Activities Funding Commission, which saw $12.5 and $18.07 increases, respectively.
Two student organizations, Alternative Breaks and Empathy Assistance and Referral Services saw 100 percent losses of funding.
When the budget for EARS was discussed on Nov. 17, Finance Committee members said the move was planned and would transition EARS to be under the SAFC, where the group could potentially receive more money. Three other organizations — Cornell University Class Councils, Cornell University Tonight Commission and Multicultural Greek Fraternal Council — saw decreases of a lower degree.
The recommendation was passed 26-2-0, surpassing the necessary two-thirds majority, which was followed by the meeting going into executive session.
Khady Fall is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a contributor for the News department and can be reached at nf296@cornell.edu.
Rajorshi Chatterjee is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is a contributor for the News department and can be reached at rc978@cornell.edu.
